1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical communication system including electro-optic converters and opto-electric converters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an optical communication system is duplex to realize a protection system. That is, a working optical transmission line and a standby optical transmission line are provided for one channel. As a result, when the working optical transmission line fails, the working optical transmission line is switched to the standby optical transmission line, or vice versa.
In prior art duplex optical communication systems, optical cards each including at least one electro-optic converter or opto-electric converter are fixed to a motherboard. This will be explained later in detail.
As a result, when one electro-optic converter (or opto-electric converter) fails, the operation of the entire optical transmitting (or receiving) apparatus has to be stopped, so that the optical card including such a failed converter can be replaced with a new one. This deteriorates the efficiency of the maintenance of the duplex communication system.